Friday, February 17, 2017

This issue is dedicated the memory of my father OBM who
passed away 48 years ago Motzei Shabbos.

Spring cleaning of the e-mails in my out box. I came across a
number that were easy to erase and one or two which I didn’t. But this Gem I
picked up from Chaim S. a few years ago is worth republishing: Thank you Phil Robertson ... for pointing this out. Mishlei
8:36But he who sins against me robs his soul; all who hate me, love
death." וְחֹטְאִי
חֹמֵס נַפְשׁוֹ כָּל מְשַׂנְאַי אָהֲבוּ מָוֶת

It is most interesting
that the root of Hamas is the second Hebrew word.

Epilogue to my comments on the splitting of the sea in
Parsha Beshalach and the water standing like a wall on the left and the right.
This week the wind was blowing steady at 30kmph or about 18mph with higher
gusts by the sea the temperature was mid to upper single Celsius digits or in
the 40’s F. The coastal road in Israel froze during the pounding almost icy
rain.

Parsha
Yisro

The Bnei Yisrael have crossed the sea
finally have water and Mann in the Sinai. They have defeated Amalek. But what
happens now? The disputes between husband and wife in close quarters and
neighbors starts to occur. Moshe ends up judging everybody from morn until
dusk. He is exhausting himself, until Yisro comes and explains how to set up a
court system for the newly freed slaves.

18:1 Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard
of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel His people, how that the
LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt.

Travelers spread 5he news.

2 And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife,
after he had sent her away,

After she had been sent away: When the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him in Midian, “Go,
return to Egypt” (Exod. 4: 19), “and Moses took his wife and his sons, etc.” (Exod. 4:20), and Aaron went forth
“and met him on the mount of God” (Exod.
4:27), he [Aaron] said to him [Moses], “Who are these?” He [Moses] replied,
“This is my wife, whom I married in Midian, and these are my sons.” "And
where are you taking them?" he [Aaron] asked. “To Egypt,” he replied. He
[Aaron] retorted, “We are suffering with the first ones, and you come to add to
them?” He [Moses] said to her [Zipporah], “Go home to your father.” She took
her two sons and went away. — [from Mechilta]

3 and her two sons; of whom the name of the one was Gershom; for he
said: 'I have been a stranger in a strange land'; 4 and the name of the other
was Eliezer: 'for the God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the
sword of Pharaoh.' 5 And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and
his wife unto Moses into the wilderness where he was encamped, at the mount of
God; 6 and he said unto Moses: 'I thy father-in-law Jethro am coming unto thee,
and thy wife, and her two sons with her.'

This is not physical contact but a message. We have
seen this in Parsha Vayigash with Yacov and Esav. Does Yacov have to say that
he is Esav’s brother but rather the messenger that he is coming and asking to
enter the camp. For there must have been guards everywhere especially after the
Amalek attack.

7 And Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and bowed down and
kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare; and they came into the
tent. 8 And Moses told his father-in-law all that the LORD had done unto
Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the travail that had come
upon them by the way, and how the LORD delivered them. 9 And Jethro rejoiced
for all the goodness which the LORD had done to Israel, in that He had
delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. 10 And Jethro said: 'Blessed
be the LORD, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out
of the hand of Pharaoh; who hath delivered the people from under the hand of
the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods; yea, for
that they dealt proudly against them.'

Each year I like to repeat this Rashi as not only for
my new readers but as a reminder of Yisro’s search for the right religion as an
honest search.

Now I know: I recognized Him in the past, but now [I recognize Him] even
more. — [from Mechilta]

This is precisely like the Saadia
Gaon story where he was crying and repenting almost every day saying something
like forgive HASHEM as I did not know your ways so well.

Than all
the deities: This
teaches us that he [Jethro] was knowledgeable about every type of idolatry in
the world, and there was no pagan deity that he did not worship. — [from
Mechilta] For with
the thing that they plotted, [He came] upon them: Heb. זָדוּ. [To be explained]
according to its [Aramaic] translation. [Onkelos renders: For with the thing
that the Egyptians plotted to judge Israel, with that He judged them.] With
water, they planned to destroy them, and they [themselves] were destroyed with
water. …

12 And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took a burnt-offering and
sacrifices for God; and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread
with Moses' father-in-law before God. 13 And it came to pass on the morrow,
that Moses sat to judge the people; and the people stood about Moses from the
morning unto the evening. 14 And when Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did
to the people, he said: 'What is this thing that thou do to the people? why sit
yourself alone, and all the people stand about thee from morning unto even?' …17
And Moses' father-in-law said unto him: 'The thing that thou do is not good. 18
Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee; for
the thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.

Moshe took up the advice of Yisro and most cases were
solved without his intervention. The daughter of Zelophad being an exception to
the rule. The Lubavitcher Rebbe did have a judgement tier and secretaries
before him and still many evenings would bless people and give out dollars for
charity. He would do this for hours and it must have tired him out at the age
of 90 here Moshe is 81 years old.

This past year, I met the grandson of Rabbi Chaim
Greinerman. [Before Rav Firer, the Rabbi used to be the expert in medical
advice] I told him that I once went to him for advice and I was early in the
line. In the end without exaggeration, about 20 to 30 people pushed in front of
me as Charedim are not brought up in western style line waiting in a que. He
told me that his grandfather every once in a while was exhausted that he had to
refresh himself with Torah and would rest in a vacation spot learning Torah.

19 Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God be
with thee: be thou for the people before God, and bring thou the causes unto
God. 20 And thou shalt teach them the statutes and the laws, and shalt show
them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. 21
Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God,
men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be rulers of
thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. …27 And
Moses let his father-in-law depart; and he went his way into his own land.

19:1 In the third month after the children of Israel were gone
forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of
Sinai.

20:1
And God spoke all these words, saying: 2 I am the LORD thy God, who brought
thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no
other gods before Me.

The first four of the Asser Dibros are simply establishing the
KINGSHIP of G-D and our relationship with HIM. The fifth on Shabbos is the
special Mitzvah given only to the children of Israel. For all the other nations
can ride, write, plow, harvest, cook, etc. on Shabbos only the Bnei Yisrael
must refrain from the 39 Melachos and their derivatives.

3
Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner of likeness, of
anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is
in the water under the earth; 4 thou shalt not bow down unto them, nor serve
them; for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that
hate Me; 5 and showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of them that love
Me and keep My commandments.

When I was between 10 to 12 I asked the Catholic Girl next door
about Pasuk 3 and 4. She brought me her translation and lo and behold it had a
different skewed version. For it would be normal for each Catholic to ask
questions why is there a statue in church. Today, the translation is better but
they have come up with an answer of reminding people and a whole
contra-philosophy.

6
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not
hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.

I have seen loose personalities swear by their eyes, children,
etc. about things so swear in the name of the L-RD should not be taken lightly.

You shall not take the name of
the Lord, your God, in vain: You shall
not swear in vain by the name of the Lord, your God. — [Onkelos] לַֹשָוְא -[This word appears twice in this verse.] (The second [mention
of לַֹשָוְא is an expression of falsehood, as the
Targum [Onkelos] renders: לְֹשִיקְרָא,
as it says [in Shavuos 21a]: "What constitutes a vain oath? If one swears
contrary to what is known, [for example, saying] about a stone pillar that it
is [made of] gold. (The first [mention of לַֹשָוְא
is an expression of vanity, as the Targum [Onkelos] renders: [לְמַגָּנָא].) This [refers to] one who swears for no
reason and in vain, [for example making an oath] concerning [a pillar] of wood,
[saying] that it is wood, and concerning [a pillar] of stone, [saying] that it
is stone. — [from Shevuoth 29a, Mechilta]

7 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Remember: Heb. זָכוֹר [The words] “remember
(זָכוֹר)” and “keep (שָׁמוֹר)”
(Deut. 5:12) were pronounced with
one utterance. Similarly [the statements], “Those who profane it shall be put
to death” (Exod. 31:14) and “And
on the Sabbath day, two lambs” (Num.
28:9) [were said in one utterance], and similarly, “You shall not wear
shaatnez,” and “You shall make tzitzith for yourself” (Deut. 22:11, 12). Similarly, [the
phrases] “The nakedness of your brother’s wife [you shall not uncover]” (Lev. 18:16), [and] “Her
brother-in-law shall come in to her” (Deut.
25:5) [were said in one utterance]. This [occurrence of God saying two
phrases simultaneously in one utterance] is the meaning of what is said: “God
spoke one thing, I heard two” (Ps.
62:12) (Mechilta). [The word] זָכוֹר
is in the פָּעוֹל form, an expression
of ongoing action, like “[Let us engage in] eating and drinking אָכוֹל וְשָׁתוֹ) )” (Isa. 22:13), [and] “walking and
weeping הָלוֹ וָּבָכֹה)
)” (II Sam. 3:16), and this is
its interpretation: Pay attention to always remember the Sabbath day, so that
if you chance upon a beautiful thing, you shall prepare it for the Sabbath
(Mechilta).

8 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work;

And
perform all your labor: When the
Sabbath arrives, it shall seem to you as if all your work is done, that you
shall not think about work.

Not physical work but Melachos. One can set up tables, chairs and
benches for 10,000 people in a hall or plates, glasses, napkins and cutlery for
thousands and it is not work but take a handkerchief or a cracker from a private
domain to a public domain and it is Melacha.

9 but the seventh day is a Sabbath unto the LORD thy God, in it thou
shalt not do any manner of work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy
man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is
within thy gates;

Neither
you, your son, your daughter: These are young children. Or perhaps it refers to
adult children? You must admit that they have already been warned [to observe
the Sabbath]. Rather, [this word] comes only to warn adults concerning young
children resting [from work] (Mechilta). This is the meaning of what we learned
[in the Mishnah]: If a young child comes to extinguish [a fire on the Sabbath],
you may not allow him [to do so] since you are responsible for his resting
[from work] (Shab. 121a)

The CREATOR
give rights to all on observing Shabbos for all in your household.
Parents would let their children rest from chores except perhaps setting up the
table and helping with what is necessary on Shabbos. I wash the dishes from the
evening meal and breakfast and Motzei Shabbos, my wife does this chore. In the
wilderness, the Bnei Yisrael did not have this luxury or wish and meat at the
table so they ate Mann only.

Servants or
non-Jewish Slaves, who were sent to the Mikvah, would become Jews upon release.
Or a Jewish Servant sold by a parent into service who would be released upon
obtaining either early puberty or reaching the age of Mitzvos. The later could
be released to marry the rich man’s child. The Talmud specifies son but there
is no reason not to also contract a marriage for the daughter which is more
than equal rights to rest but also full equality. This did not exist in the
ancient world or with the cast system in India or other places.

Your cattle
must rest on Shabbos which is a concept that others cannot understand. Long
before the so-called animal rights groups, the oxen or donkeys that pulled
carts or plowed the fields had rights. As for those who do not observe Shabbos,
they are deigning themselves and their loved ones these basic rights and
enslaving themselves to trips, camping, chores and modern devices. No study was
done how this raises the rates of insanity, health problems, suicide and
completely broke-down families. It is not the “family that prays together stays
together” but the family that sits at the table, sings, talks discusses the
weekly Torah that stays together. I watched how my children and grandchildren began
to realize the specialness of Shabbos even from a young age.

10 for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all
that in them is, and rested on the seventh day; wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath
day, and hallowed it.

This is the reason for consecrating and hallowing the Shabbos in
memory of the creation of the world and given after exiting Mitzrayim. This concludes
the last of the Commandments aka Dibros of between man and G-D of the 10 the
rest are between man and man. Honoring parents which we see below is a few
words, murder, stealing and adultery are both two words one meaning “don’t”.

And He rested on the seventh day:
As if [it were] possible, He
ascribed rest [even] to Himself to teach (as an example) from Him of Kal Va
Chomer [a fortiori] reasoning for man, whose work is with toil and fatigue,
that he must rest on the Sabbath. [I.e., although God does not and did not
actually rest, He had His cessation of creating recorded as rest, so that
humans would learn that if God, Whose work is accomplished without any toil or
fatigue, rested on the Sabbath, surely people, whose work is accomplished only
with hard work and fatigue, must rest on the Sabbath.]-[from Mechilta] Blessed…and sanctified it: He blessed it with manna to double it on the sixth
day-"double bread"-and He sanctified it with manna, that it did not
fall then [on the Sabbath]. — [from Mechilta]

11
Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which
the LORD thy God giveth thee.

In order
that your days be lengthened: If you
honor [your parents], your days will be lengthened, and if not, they will be
shortened. The words of the Torah are written briefly; they are explained by
deriving the negative from the affirmative and the affirmative from the
negative. — [from Mechilta]

You shall not commit adultery: Adultery applies only [to relations] with a married woman, as it
is said: "[And a man who commits adultery with the wife of another man,
who commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor,] [both] the adulterer and
the adulteress shall be put to death" (Lev. 20:10); [and it says,] “[You
are] the adulterous wife, who, instead of her husband, takes strangers” (Ezek. 16:32). [In both these verses,
the term “adultery” is used in reference to the extramarital relations of a
married woman.] You shall
not steal: The text refers to
kidnapping. [The verse] “You shall not steal” (Lev. 19:11) refers to stealing money.
Or perhaps this one [verse] refers only to stealing money and the one written
further (in Lev.) refers to kidnapping? You must admit that [the meaning of] a
statement is derived from its context. Just as [the former two commandments]
“You shall not murder” [and] “You shall not commit adultery” refer to capital
sins, “You shall not steal” also refers to a capital sin [i.e., a sin
punishable by death]. — [from Sanh. 86a]

Cheating by a husband with an unmarried woman is not recommended
and is punished by Makkos (lashes in the times of Torah law) for he does the
act without a Ketuba. For a man can have more than one wife. Bearing false
witness is like killing a person – robbing him of his reputation for being
honest and stealing his money in a Beis Din or causing a man to divorce his
wife.

If a man’s neighbor is rich one should not covet their luck for
one who does this churns up his stomach and becomes bitter. But one who is
happy with his neighbor’s fortune in the end will be blessed too. [Avos – Who is
wealth? One who his happy with his fortune.]

14
And all the people perceived the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the voice
of the horn, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they
trembled, and stood afar off. 15 And they said unto Moses: 'Speak thou with us,
and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.' 16 And Moses
said unto the people: 'Fear not; for God is come to prove you, and that His
fear may be before you, that ye sin not.' 17 And the people stood afar off; but
Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.

Had the people heard more commandments than the first two, they
never would have sinned with the Egel HaZahav (golden calf) or the spies and
the world would have been different.

18
And the LORD said unto Moses: Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel:
Ye yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. 19 Ye shall
not make with Me--gods of silver, or gods of gold, ye shall not make unto you.
20 An altar of earth thou shalt make unto Me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy
burnt-offerings, and thy peace-offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen; in every
place where I cause My name to be mentioned I will come unto thee and bless
thee. 21 And if thou make Me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn
stones; for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast profaned it. 22 Neither
shalt thou go up by steps unto Mine altar, that thy nakedness be not uncovered
thereon.

The Cohanim wore pants for before that most people walked the
Arabs or Scots without underwear.

HISTORY IS CONVOLUTED,something we can appreciate
more today. A lot of it has been straightforward, but a lot of it has not.
Sometimes, though, events can be demystified somewhat on a different, or
rather, a deeper level of understanding.

Yisro is a good
example of this. He is famous as Moshe Rabbeinu’s father-in-law, a merit he
earned, we are told, by rejecting every form of idol worship in his time. Like
Avraham Avinu before him, he seems to have been a truth seeker, the reward for
which was to find THE Truth Itself.

The story behind the
story? It’s more complicated. It is also built upon a pre-existing relationship
between Yisro and his famous son-in-law going back in time all the way to the
beginning of history. Yisro alludes to this when he says:

“I, your father in
law Yisro, am coming to you . . .” (Shemos 18:6)

According to the
Arizal, the first letters of the three Hebrew words for, “your father-in-law,
Yisro”—Aleph-Ches-Yud—spell “ahchee,” which means “my brother.” On a Pshat
level, Yisro referred to Moshe as his son-in-law. On a Sod level, he called him
his brother. This is why:

Since the Nefesh of
Kayin is one to which the impurity of the snake greatly latches on, and the
evil within it overcomes its good, [the Nefesh of Kayin] reincarnated into the
Egyptian . . . Moshe, who was [the reincarnation of] Hevel, wanted to rectify
him by killing him using the “Ineffable Name,” i.e., the 42-letter Name [of
God], to separate out the evil out from within him and bring it to the level of
good and holiness. On the day that [Moshe] killed the Egyptian, it entered
Yisro . . . and he converted. (Sha’ar HaGilgulim, Introduction 36)

Though Moshe
Rabbeinu and Yisro were son-in-law and father-in-law in their current lifetime,
they had been Kayin and Hevel in a previous one. Thus, when Yisro, previously
Kayin, brought Moshe, previously Hevel, into his family, he atoned for his
murder of his brother back at the beginning of history.

Furthermore,
explains the Arizal, Tzipporah, Yisro’s daughter and Moshe’s wife, was part of
the atonement process. The Midrash says that Kayin’s jealousy of Hevel stemmed
from the fact that Hevel was born with two twin sisters, while he had only been
born with one. Since at that time sisters became their brother’s wives, Hevel
had two wives while Kayin only had one. This made Kayin jealous enough to
murder his brother.

Apparently, the
Arizal reveals, Tzipporah was the reincarnation of Hevel’s second twin sister.
When Yisro gave her to Moshe Rabbeinu as a wife, this was really Kayin giving
her back to Hevel. Quite bizarre, given that there is nary a hint of any of
this anywhere in the story.

It does show how
multi-layered history is. It reveals how ancient forces can drive modern day
events and people. It illustrates how current events may only be modern day
versions of older and far more significant ones.

Does it really make
a difference to know such hidden information about people and history? No doubt
knowing past reincarnations does fill in some important blanks in history, but
aren’t they blanks we had already learned to live with?

Forwarded to me by Judith a story I
heard orally: TRUMP’S SHUL
Even today, after Donald Trump has already been inaugurated as president of the
United States, many pundits are still trying to figure out how it happened. How
did the man with the smallest chance of victory manage to win this election, in
complete defiance of all the predictions and assessments of the experts, and
all the polls that seemed to be against him? In retrospect, there are many
explanations for his astounding victory, some of which are more logical, while
others are less so.

There is one man, Rabbi Shmuel Wagner, who has no background whatsoever in the
media or in political commentary, but who is confident that he knows of at
least one reason for Trump's stunning victory: the Zechus of his father. In an
exclusive interview, Rabbi Wagner, Mashgiach Ruchani of Yeshivas Ohr
Yerushalayim in Moshav Beit Meir, shares the incredible story of how Donald
Trump's father, Frederick Trump, built a shul for the congregation headed by
his father, Rabbi Yisroel Wagner, and went on to make annual donations of
funding for the Kehillah and to aid Jewish families in financial distress.

THE RABBI OF TRUMP’S NEIGHBOURHOOD
After Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election, several publications
featured a grainy sixty-year-old photograph that depicts Fred Trump, the new
president's father, in a shul in the neighborhood of Flatbush in Brooklyn. The
photograph was accompanied by a terse caption that did little to shed light on
the background to this unusual picture.

Rabbi Shmuel Wagner is a son of Rabbi Yisroel Wagner zt"l, the rov of the
shul in Flatbush where the picture was taken, and he reveals that there is truly an incredible story
behind it. "To give you a little background information about Fred Trump's
generous donation and his special relationship with my father," Rabbi
Wagner says, "let me take you several years further into the past. My
father was born in Galicia and was a tremendous illuy. He was a prominent
bochur in Belz and was very close with Rav Aharon of Belz. He was about 18 or
19 years old when World War II began. He father was engaged at the time to a
daughter of Rav Shraga Feivel Willig, the rov of the city of Buchach in
Galicia. When the war began, he and his Kallah were both displaced from their
homes, and each of them miraculously survived the war. They were reunited after
the war, also miraculously, in a displaced persons camp, and they got married
in Salzburg, Austria."

From Salzburg, Rabbi Yisroel Wagner made his way to
Bolivia, where he served as the rov of a Jewish community. "At first, my
parents received papers for Bolivia," Rabbi Wagner continues his account.
"After he served as a rov there for two years, they came to California, in
the United States, in the year 1950. That is where I was born. My father was
the rov of a shul in California, but there were no suitable schools for
children there, so the family moved to New York, where there were Chedarim and Yeshivos."

A few weeks after the Wagner family arrived in New
York, Reb Yisroel was appointed to the rabbonus of a residential area belonging
to a businessman named Fred Trump, father of Donald Trump. Reb Shmuel says,
"Fred owned 31 residential buildings in the area, with many apartments for
rent. It was an area on the outskirts of Flatbush, near the beach. Most of the
tenants in those apartments were Jews, and almost all of them were
irreligious."

A SHUL IN A PARKING GARAGE
Despite the fact that most of the local residents were not frum, they took an
interest in Rabbi Wagner's shul. "There was a Minyan in the shul as soon
as it opened," Rabbi Wagner recalls. "There were Jews from Europe
there, and they cared about Davening in a
shul. The shul operated in a parking garage of one of the buildings, and my
father received the position of rov through a relative. "The shul began
with thirty members, but it experienced tremendous growth in just a few years,
to the point that it came to serve
hundreds of families. Many of the mispallelim were not religious, but they were
very much attracted to the shul, to my father, and to the warmth that he
radiated to them. They loved the experience of the shul and listening to my
father's Divrei Torah. And he, with his
kindhearted manner and his trademark warmth, taught them Torah and Chassidus,
at least to some degree."

At some point, the shul's membership grew to the
point that the facility was no longer large enough to house the congregation.
It was understood that a shul needs to have a proper building in order to
function. "My father had an idea," Rabbi Wagner recalls. "He
offered to approach Fred Trump, whom he didn't know personally, even though
Trump was his landlord. He hoped that he could use his wisdom to convince Trump
to give him a building for his shul. He thought that he might influence his
landlord by explaining that
Jews, who were Trump's largest group of customers, need a shul near their
homes. He also knew that Fred Trump was a man of faith, and he was likely to
relate to the request.

"Thus, my father's request appealed both to Trump's emotions and to his
shrewd business mind. And it worked. My father and Fred both understood that a Kehillah
that revolved around a shul would be a community whose members lead a proper
spiritual lifestyle, and his business would benefit from that. My father
managed to reach Fred
Trump's heart. Trump was very moved by the idea my father expressed and the two
became close friends. Fred proceeded to donate a piece of real estate for the
shul, and he even made a very generous donation so that a magnificent shul
building could be built."

“MY RABBI”
According to Rabbi Wagner, not only did Fred Trump donate the plot of land
where the shul was built and cover the expenses of the construction, but he
also attended the ceremony at which the cornerstone was laid. "Fred was
very moved by my father's speech at the ceremony. He was highly impressed, and
he became my father's close friend. They met again and again, and over time
they developed a close relationship. Trump viewed my father as a holy man and a
great sage. He used to call him 'my rabbi.'
"As I mentioned," Rabbi Wagner continues, "the president's
father was very devoted to his Christian faith. So in addition to the business
aspect of the shul, which he viewed as a very worthwhile move to benefit his
Jewish tenants, he also put his whole heart into it. Over the years, my father
had an official meeting with him once a year, in addition to the many other
times they saw each other. At each of those official meetings, Fred would make
a generous donation to the shul. In fact, most of the funding that maintained
the shul came from Fred Trump. Rabbi Wagner adds that over time, Fred Trump's
donations grew progressively more generous. "Sometimes, my father would
tell him about various Jewish families in the area who were needy, and he would
give large sums to help them as well."

What motivated a non-Jewish businessman to make such
large charitable donations to needy Jews? "He was devoted to my
father," Rabbi Wagner asserts. "He admired him deeply, and he used to
ask his opinion on many things. He was very impressed by the fact that my
father, a Chassidishe Jew from Belz in Europe, became the rov of a more modern
congregation and inspired many Jews to keep Shabbos and even to become fully
religious.

"In our area, there was also a Talmud Torah, a
school for Jewish studies that was held after classes were over in the public
schools. Fred Trump used to donate large sums to that institution as well. He
was a very pleasant person with a very kind heart. Fred was also very serene
and delicate. He was responsible for the beginning of Donald's career."

WHEN DONALD WORKED IN THE LAUNDRY ROOM Rabbi
Wagner has vivid recollections of Fred Trump's son, a wild, blond-haired youth.
"Donald's father left him and his brother an inheritance of over a billion
dollars. In effect, Fred was the one who launched his son's business career. I
still remember going to shul with my father for Shacharis early every Sunday
morning. The laundry room, where all
the tenants washed their clothes in coin-operated machines, was in the basement
of the building. And do you know who collected the money from those machines in
the mornings? Donald Trump and his brother! "Donald was Fred Trump's
second son. I remember him from the age of about 14 or 15, with his wild shock
of blond hair and his endless reserves of energy and drive. His father used to
send him to collect the money from the laundry machines. Fred taught his
children from a very early age to take responsibility; he gave them no breaks.
Donald may have been wild as a youth, but his father raised him well." Rabbi
Wagner will never forget the respect that his father, Rabbi
Yisroel Wagner, received from Fred Trump. "His respect for my father was
incredible. He was a fine person with a generous heart. I have no doubt that
that Zechus helped Donald Trump, who was always very respectful of his own
father and obeyed him in everything." The son of "Trump's rabbi"
shares another interesting anecdote, from about two years ago. "My mother,
who passed away about ten months ago, was called 'the Rebbetzin' by Fred Trump.
Two years honor of the occasion, we sent an invitation to Donald Trump. We
wrote to him about my mother, and we told him that we had known his father and
we remembered him from his childhood. We asked him to write us back with a
happy birthday message for my mother. To our surprise, he remembered the shul,
and he sent us a very warm message, along with a picture inscribed for my
mother."

TRUMP’S FAITH
During the election campaign in New York, Donald Trump told the Jews of the
city that his father had built a shul there. He remembered the location well,
and he recalled the work that his father had sent him to do in the residential
buildings of the Jewish neighborhood. Rabbi Wagner, did you ever meet Fred
Trump? "I was very close with my father, and I helped him with everything
having to do with the shul. I learned in the Mirrer Yeshiva in Brooklyn, but
every Sunday I davened with my father in the shul, at his request. On a few
occasions, I also joined him when he went to meet with Fred Trump."
What did Fred say? "Well, as I said, he was a man of faith. He used to
tell us over and over, 'I believe in G-d.' He also used to say that in his
eyes, my father was the epitome of what a religious clergyman should be like. Fred
was a very moral person, and he worked hard to teach his children to be
responsible, moral, and hardworking." In terms of Donald Trump's victory
in the presidential elections, Rabbi Wagner has no doubt as to the reason.
"This is certainly the reason for Donald Trump's Zechuyos," he
asserts. "This explains his shocking victory in the elections in the
United States. I have no doubt of it. His father had the Zechus of paying for a
shul to be built and maintaining it for years. He gave money to many struggling
Jewish families, and he gave great honor to the rov of
the shul and to Jews in general. Donald has Zechus Avos, and that is what has
brought him to the White House."

Epilogue about Fred Trump. Eliezer
David HaCohain, who recently passed away, told me a very short story. Fred
Trump used him as a CPA. NY City made Fred an offer build for us at no cost
housing and collect 10% of the rent for 30 years or delay it and after 30 years
and collect all the rent from then on. He advised Fred to do the later. The
children of Fred Trump have collected this rent for a while now. Perhaps also
Ivanka becoming Jewish.

Dr. Harry on my Eugenics Story of
last week: Planned Parenthood was founded as a
genocidal “black extermination” organization by a black-hating eugenicist who
referred to black people as “human weeds.” The legacy of Margaret Sanger
continues to this day with the placement of Planned Parenthood abortion mills
in mostly black inner city locations, where the promise of offering “prenatal
services” is a cruel lie and a deceptive cover story to keep government money
flowing while black babies are murdered en masse.

Planned Parenthood, runs a genocidal war on
blacks and the political Left runs a modern-day “economic slave plantation”
that deliberately traps African-Americans in a cycle of dependence and
ignorance while exploiting them for their votes. The most terrifying idea to
the Left is an informed, successful and self-determined black man.

Armed black men who invoke their Second
Amendment rights are even more terrifying to the Left, which is why the KKK was
founded and run by Democrats who pushed gun control to make sure blacks
couldn’t shoot back while Democrats strung them up with rope.

I received this from a potential
Convert to Orthodox Judaism that is a Conservative Convert:Two
questions:
What if a person had terrible difficulty learning to read Hebrew after
conversion due to a traumatic brain injury ( which I have) ... and
What if a person has problems with their voice ( which I sometimes have) and
cannot speak or cannot say prayers during Jewish traditional practices?

I sympathize with this as my own Hebrew was not that great years
ago and after a head injury in a traffic accident I often mispronounce Hebrew
Words something like What’s App putting in their spelling correction. We got a
message about a cancellation of a trip to the Hermon for the sixth grade [due
to the weather] but the Hebrew came out doing something at the Kotel instead of
Bitul. The second thing is due to a cold becoming hoarse or losing one’s voice.
One is supposed to have intent and pray there are some with beautiful voices
who lack intent and others who sound like an off-key singer with wonderful
Kavannah.

Bertram I. Lesser of Boca Raton, FL and formerly of Mamaroneck, NY,
passed away peacefully on January 27, 2017. He was 94. Bert was born to Samuel
Lesser and Mayme Moss Lesser in the Bronx on May 27, 1922. Legend has it he was
delivered on the family's kitchen table. He entered City College at age 16 and
graduated in 1942 with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering. After serving proudly
in the Army as a bombsite specialist, he worked at Sikorsky Aircraft in
Stratford, CT. Soon thereafter, he left to start his own business, Duralite
Company, designing and manufacturing aluminum rulers and army cots from a
Brooklyn storefront. As Duralite grew, Bert moved the business to Passaic, NJ,
and became a major designer and manufacturer of outdoor furniture and other
aluminum products. He was thrilled to find out that the Aluminum Racing Sled he
designed in 1956 is now in the Brooklyn Museum. A life-long athlete and Yankees
fan, Bert's love of sports began with stick-ball on the streets of New York
City. As an avid tennis player, he found a second home at Armonk Tennis Club.
Taking up golf at age 70, he was known for both his prodigious tee shots and
eight-foot gimmes. A lover of classical music and opera, music could always be
heard emanating from his home in Mamaroneck. Bert played the recorder with an
ensemble, and built a harpsichord from scratch for his wife Mimi. Although a
world traveler, his happiest times were spent in his backyard on Stonewall
Lane, in the company of his dear friends and neighbors. Bert is survived by his
wife, Mimi Korach Lesser, of Boca Raton, FL, his daughter, Robin Simon, of
Bedford, NY, a daughter-in-law, Carol Burton of Norwalk, CT, and four
grandchildren, Jackson, Rosie, Nick and Alizah. A son, Stephen Lesser,
predeceased him in 2004. Bert will be remembered for his sense of humor, his
integrity, his generosity, his martinis, and as a loving husband, father and friend.
He will be missed. A private service will be held this spring in New York.

I am often a bit childish in my faith and attitude
something like Yitzchak Avinu. Rabbi Simon Jacobson Shlita on the Meaning of
Life Center Publication writes: Babies are more evolved than we are: “Infantile”.
“Childish”. “Immature”. When an adult is being selfish and obnoxious, these are
some of the words that we use to describe his behavior. While it is true that
babies lack self-control and the intellectual faculties necessary to control
their own behavior, babies have a lot to teach us adults. Babies, in more ways
than one, are more evolved than we are.

Babies Are Genuine

When was the last time you
met a conniving, plotting, two-faced toddler? You haven’t met one, because they
don’t exist. Babies are genuine. They have not developed duplicity as a way of
saving face and/or getting what they want. Babies learn how to lie from adults;
it is not inherent in their nature.

Babies Love and Trust Their Parents

As adults, we struggle with
trust. We may or may not even believe that there is anyone — let alone a higher
power — that cares for us and looks after us. Babies, on the other hand,
demonstrate the epitome of trust and faith. Whether their parents are competent
and kind or not, babies love and trust them. To a baby, his or her parents are
all there is in the world, exhibiting magical power. There is no such thing as
a “self-made” baby, or a baby limited by his own intellect.

Babies Are Inherently Good and Pure

Babies are born as clean
slates. At birth, nobody has harmed them. Nobody has let them down. Nobody has
told them that they are not good enough. They have not experienced life’s up
and downs. They have never blamed themselves for anything. They are 100%
innocent and pure. When we talk about getting in touch with our inner children,
that state of purity is what we are talking about. We all have it deep down;
life has done an efficient job of covering it up.